To be frustrated by DofE requirements

[Frenchcremefraiche]

My daughter has just turned 15 and is trying to complete (well, START tbh!) her Bronze DofE.

On paper it's fine: learn something and do some volunteering.

In reality it's really, really hard! All suggestions appreciated!

There are so many exclusions to the skill requirement. She doesnt get home from school until 6 which limits evenings. Not that there are many lessons/groups after school anyway. Then there are so few activities that count as a skill on the weekend. Anything vaguely "sporty" doesnt count as a skill even if it's something she's never done before and is going to classes to learn it (eg ice skating). She's been doing online guitar lessons but because she started those before DofE, they dont count. There is a minimum hours requirement and Ive found a few in person classes but they arent long enough. It needs to be something in person because it needs to be signed off so teaching herself or doing something at home wont count.

Then volunteering, because of her age, very few places can help. Any informal groups that are willing to take her want a parent present because they cant take responsibility for her / arent DBS checked etc which I get but obviously she doesnt want me hanging about. It has to be a regular thing so she cant organise eg an afternoon litter pick. Plus she needs someone to sign it off anyway. She looked at helping at a local beaver/scout group but one said no and the other has her ex boyfriend helping so she said no. In her naive 15year old way she wont help at brownies because they are "sexist".

Any suggestions on what she can do? She's on the verge of having to quit because she cant meet the requirements.

This sounds very different to the way it was presented at my DD's school recently.

The DofE website has lots of suggestions for online volunteering opportunities. DD is going to do one of those as it's easier to fit in with living between two houses.

I occasionally do an online mapping thing through work, which is also one of the DofE online options. You can just sign in and do a few minutes at a time, I think. So easy to do 15 or 30 minutes here or there so it adds up. DD is interested in being a pen pal to a child who needs encouragement for whatever reason. There's a whole section about online volunteering on the DofE website.

For physical activity, we were told she needs to log her activity but the "assessor" can be anyone (who isn't a family member) over 18 who is willing to have regular check-ins and sign to say that DD is indeed keeping up with the activity.

Edit: and we were also told a skill could be following e.g. online drawing lessons. Again, you just need to document what you've done and have a trusted adult to talk to about it. Then they sign off to say they've seen your progress and you're definitely doing the skill.

When I first saw the requirements on the website , I also thought it was going to be quite hard to do, but the coordinator explained all these options to us at a presentation and it didn't sound half as onerous then. Maybe your DD needs to speak to her DofE coordinator about it?

I wish I had done my DoE. I was so focused on getting the grades I needed for university that it all felt like a bit of an indulgence, which in retrsospect was the wrong attitude.

Our parkrun has lots of DoE volunteers. No shortage of roles given the existence of junior parkrun as well. Over by 10:30 so doesn’t distract from actual study.

The sports section is easy enough to fill with membership of a sports club.

The one I would struggle with is skill. My school offered a GCSE Astronomy at the time, and that would have been a great, and interesting, skill to learn.

When DD did her bronze D of E many years ago she volunteered in the local Cancer research shop on a Saturday morning.She also learned to cook and made a new dish every week which she wrote down in her record book.She was a member of a local athletics club and every week she got her coach to sign and date that she’d attended the session.These we’re all accepted activities.I don’t know if the criteria has changed since then as DD is now in her 30s.

I learnt an instrument for my skill, took up a sport for a sport and helped at a local Sunday school for volunteering. It was busy but that’s the point of it- to take up new hobbies that get you a well-deserved award (and looks good on UCAS statements/job applications when she leaves school).

Our local junior parkrun has a teenagers volunteering for D of E. Maybe do that or
look into volunteering for the adult parkrun too.

It is tough at that age, but she still has options. Libraries and charity shops, community cafes and care homes often take 15-year olds for volunteering. For skills, things like cooking, photography, baking... or even learning a language usually count.

Can she volunteer at school? When I was in 6th form we had to do an hour of volunteering at school per week. I used to listen to a year 7 boy with dyslexia read to me.

@Frenchcremefraiche my DS is using all the activities he is already doing. So, scouts, sports etc. The school very specifically said if you’re already doing something you can use it .

So I’m confused why your DD thinks she can’t.

I know activities in school holidays are always desperate for volunteers. Especially for special needs children. Most of the volunteers were siblings of children who attended.

My DS is doing money skills via HSBC, it's completely free set up especially and they run sessions starting throughout the year. He's 2 sessions in and it's actually really educational, I wish I had done something similar as a child.
https://hsbc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_6YeISxXURI61Q8p0V49ZwQ#/registration

He's volunteering at our local library which I can see isn't an option for yours. His friend is helping out at a siblings football training, if you DD does a sport is there a younger team at her club she could help with maybe.

My DC is doing bronze right now.
They were already having some music lessons outside of school. We didn't have the full amount of hours required so paid for some music lessons at school as well for 2 terms which has upped us to the requirement.
In terms of volunteering they do something at our local park run on a Saturday morning for an hour or so a week.

If they got home from school earlier then they'd be able to do what a lot of local kids do and volunteer in one of our charity shops from 4-5pm once a week. I'm not sure if they'd be able to do some time on a Saturday as this isn't something they've chosen to explore, but it may be a way forward for OP's DD?

I just left my DD to get on with it, has she asked friends what they’re doing?

To be honest OP if this is her attitude then I’d give it a miss. DofE really isn’t the be all and end all - DD certainly didn’t gain anything from Silver apart from a hatred of camping and to be frank it’s such a common thing to do that universities/employers don’t see it of any real benefit, especially at the lower levels.

For the record she did horse riding, baking (bloody nightmare to get signed off..) and volunteered at an animal sanctuary who had sessions specifically for DofE kids. DD’s school were extra difficult about it and wouldn’t allow them to volunteer at charity shops - apparently it wasn’t good enough?!

My daughter did cooking skills for hers and we found an online cookery course that supports DofE. Each week she'd have a recipe to do and she just had to take a few photos and upload a summary. She really enjoyed it (and so did we!). https://www.smartraspberry.com/
We used martial arts she was already doing for her physical skills and were lucky and had links to animal rescue that we both volunteered at.

Tbh we never bothered with the volunteering in the end, it was just annoyingly awkward . Lots of options suggested in thread don't have insurance for under 16s and of course they are limited in area as a 15 year old can't drive. Dds just lost interest. They haven't suffered in terms of character development !!!
They did the hike and camping which was what they were most interested in and then just didn't bother with the rest. In fact back in 1985 I dont think I ever completed it either. Makes no difference to the CV

Hello, first time around it is a headache. Re the skill I would recommend online/live typing course. We did QWERTY kids but I’m sure there are others. Best of luck!

OP, I’m sure you don’t mean to, but you come across as very negative. You’ve poo pooed all the great suggestions on here, for not very valid reasons sometimes.
eg the litter picking - excellent idea and it doesn’t have to be monthly! She can do it weekly/daily herself if that’s easier/meets the requirements.
Is she handy with a computer? Lots of charities would love help with social media and general admin - and there wouldn’t be any data protection issues unless it’s dealing with personal or financial data.
You’re going to have to stop dismissing everything as “not practical” and start being a bit more creative.
As a PP said, if your DD can’t organise something for just a few weeks, then she might not be DofE material unfortunately.

And what was wrong with the learning to knit/crochet idea that I proposed earlier?

My dd this year (silver) for her skill does baking with her friend once a week, it's all recorded on her school ipad and then they take some of what they've made into school for their p.e teacher to try. Last year they did facepainting.

Physical - they've joined a running club with the aim to run a marathon. Last year was a weekly hike.

Volunteering this year and last has been at the local after school club.

Volunteering was actually the hardest one as loads of places they wanted to do they had to be 15/16 to do it.

My DD did sewing for her skill, her friends did cooking and guitar. It doesnt have to be something new, just an hour a week for 3 months. She got her textiles teacher to sign it off.

My DD managed to find a volunteer role in her school library.

As for the skills they offered a variety of approved online skills - DD did a soap making course. That was during Covid so not sure they are still around.

@Frenchcremefraiche are any teachers at her school D of E trained or are there any schools locally that she could ‘attach’ to?
we do it (in school) and there is wiggle room on skills and volunteering but someone needs to sign it off. It’s going to be difficult to do the end bits without some guidance (in my opinion).

Most areas have a local food bank or community larder. They are always looking for extra volunteers 😊

When I did DofE I volunteered as a young leader with the guides (now I'd volunteer at a parkrun or junior parkrun) and I also helped at a local library but I don't know now if that was meant to be the skill.

I wonder if learning a language via Futurelearn courses could be a skill? There are a few free courses and they build on each other.

This - there are D of E volunteers at most of my local parkruns too 😊

For the skill, she can do an online cookery/baking course with an approved trainer like The Round Table Cookery School. Easy to fit in once a week over 3 months.

She’s being a complete knob about brownies. Girls having spaces away from males dominating them is not sexist. Most of what is taught in the guide movement is heavily based in female empowerment and education, even in the Brownies.

Other volunteering: can she help in the local library? Or the school library? Or offer to run a club at school?